Charles



(No Model.) C. C. DAVIS.

v ROLLER SKATE.

No.340,'703. PatentedAp1fi27, 1886.

At -test Q lnveniur,

N. PETERS. PllctwLilhouraphcr. wmm mn. :2v 0

or entirely stopped.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES C. DAVIS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

ROLLER-SKATE.

ZEFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 3 i0,703,5latet1 April27,1886.

Serial No. lfiiflifi. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it 11mg concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES C}. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller-Skates, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in roller-skates; and it consistsin providing the rear truck of such skates with suitable mechanism forcontrolling the forward motion of the skate-that is, with a brake -bywhich the forward motion of the skate may be retarded Said mechanism orbrake consists in a band or plate of metal attached to the skate andextending back of the rear truck and suiiiciently near the floor to bebrought into contact therewith by the elevation of the toe or forwardend of the skate. That portion of the band or plate of metal which isbrought into contact with the floor by the elevation of the toe of theskate should be so curved as to slide over the floor without catching,and at the same time produce such friction as to stop the forward motionof the skate. The degree of friction can of course be regulated by theamount of pressure against the floor, which will depend upon the heightto which the forward end of the skate is elevated. The rubbing-surfaceof the band or plate may be faced with leather, rubber, or othersuitable material.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, in section,of the rear truck of a skate, having one form of my improved brake. Fig.2 is a slotted bracket and thumbscrew for fastening the brake to theskate plate or bottom. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, in section, of therear truck of a skate, showing a modified form of the improved brake.Fig. 4 is a socket or clamp for holding the fixed end of the brake-bar.

The same letters of reference are used to indicate identical parts inall the figures.

A is the bottom or foot plate of a rollerskate, which is usuallysupported by two trucks, one near each end.

B is the standard of the truck, carrying the axle C of the wheel orwheels D.

E, Fig. 1, is a band or plate of metal, preferably of steel, for thepurpose of securing elasticity. This band is attached at its upper endto the plate of the skate by a bracket, F, and set-screw G. The bracketis provided with a vertical slot, f, to permit the vertical adjustmentof the band E. This band E is curved down in the rear of the wheels D ina semicircular form, so that its lowest point comes near the floor inthe rear of the wheels, and the lower end of the band is curved up andattached to the axle of the wheels D. As this end of the brake bar orplate should also be adjustable vertically, I fasten it to the axle C bymeans of a clamp, H, provided with a set-screw, 71, by which the end ofthe bar is clamped firmly against the axle G, and is at the same timeadj ustable by means of the thumb-screw h at any convenient point. Anyconvenient mode of fastening the band E to the axle C may of course beemployed, as I do not limit myself to the clamp H for that purpose.

B y means of the sctscrews G and h the band E may be raised and loweredto any convenient distance from the floor. It is apparent that as thetoe or forward end of the skate is elevated the lowest point on thecurved band F- will touch the iloor, and, as it is pressed against thefloor by the further elevation of the toe of the skate, the frictionproduced will stop the motion of the skate.

By adjusting the band E so as just to escape the floor when the skate isin its normal position or level a very slight elevation of the toe orfront truck will bring the brake into action, and its force will beincreased as the too is further raised.

In Fig. 3 is shown a modified form of my the rear truck, and extendsdownward and' backward under the axle C, the rear end projecting back ofthe wheels D, and bent upward so as to present a curved surface to thefloor in the rear of the axle O. A tongue, J, on the upper side of theband or plate I, passes over a brace or pin, j, at the lower end of thetruck. This brace j may be either simply a brace connecting the lowerends of the bracket B of the truck, or it may be a shoulder cast in thetruck, or a pin, its object being to support and hold in position therear end of the band I, supporting the band I in its normal g eeogzosposition, and serving as a brace or stop to limit its upward movementwhen the rear end is pressed against the floor. Y

K is a saddle on the under side of the plate, (shown in section in Fig.8,) for fastening the forward end of the band E. The socket is held inplace by a clamp, L, in the form of a staple, the upper ends of whichpass through the plate A, and are then held by nuts 0. By looseningthese nuts the saddle K, with the band E, may be adjusted backward orforward. As the toe of the skate is lifted, the rear end of the barI ispressed against the floor or ground, acting as a brake upon the skate.By adj usting the band I backward or forward it may be brought nearer toor farther from the floor.

Instead of the saddle K, the band I may be attached to the plate A by aball-and-socket or universal joint, thus affording a wider scope ofmovement.

I do not wish to claim, broadly, a brake as applied to a rollerskate;but,

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim- In combination withthe sole-plate of a roller-skate, a hanger-frame secured thereto andcarrying rollers, and a flexible bar attaehed at one end to thesole-plate and at its other end to the truck-axle, and extending in rearof the roller in proximity to the floor-level.

2. In combination with the rear truck of a roller-skate, a flexible bandor bar of metal or other suitable material attached to the foot plate ofthe skate by a flexible 0r universal joint and to the truck, andexposing a curved surface to the fioorin the rear of the axle, andextended to such proximity to the floor-level as to have its curvedsurface brought into contact with the floor by slightly raising the toe01: the skate, substantially as described.

3. In combination with the rear truck of a roller-skate, a brake-bandhaving its ends attached, respectively, to the axle and to the heel ofthe skate, and its intermediate curved surface brought into proximity tothe floorlevel in the rear of the axle, and adapted to be brought intocontact with the floor by raising the toe of the skate, substantially asdescribed.

CIIAS. G. DAVIS \Vitnesses:

E. \V. Rno'roa, OTTO llroirrna.

